Connecting with nature in London

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1204 Londoners have responded | 09/01/2025 - 16/02/2025

A man and a child exploring a green field

Updates

Connecting with nature in London update

Updated: 27 June 2025

Earlier this year, almost 1,200 of you had your say on waterways and natural spaces, and how you enjoy London’s great outdoors.  

Thank you for your thoughtful contributions – your insights will guide our continuing efforts to reinforce the relationship between Londoners and nature.
Lucy from City Hall's Environment team

Investing in green space

Person giving away free seeds to Londoners

Green Roots Fund

The Mayor launched the Green Roots Fund at the start of London Climate Action Week (21-29 June 2025). This £12m fund will support the creation and improvement of London’s green and blue spaces – including parks, community gardens, rivers, and wetlands. The fund will also address social injustice by empowering communities to increase their access to green or blue space.  

Seeds giveaway  

On 23 June, volunteers handed out 12,000 seed packets to Londoners at 12 stations in areas that have less access to green space. This aimed to encourage Londoners to create habitats and food sources to benefit nature.  

London Climate Action Week Youth Summit

Sowing the seeds of climate and nature care is vital to the future of London’s green and blue spaces. The Mayor of London partnered with Earth Minutes and the Zoological Society London (ZSL) to host the first ever London Climate Action Week Youth Summit on 26 June. This event brought together over 150 young changemakers to explore how young Londoners can take climate and nature action in the city.

Find out more about the Green Roots Fund

You said, we did

Waterways matter to you: In fact, 78% of you told us in our survey that you are interested in walking along London’s waterways – the most popular activity. 

  • Increasing access to our waterways is a priority for London's Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan, which the Mayor is developing with partners.

Most of you feel connected to nature: 75% of you said that you feel fairly or very connected to nature. This was reflected in the huge number of nature-related activities people reported already being involved in.  

  • How we support the 25% who don’t feel connected to nature is the focus of our new Green Roots programme.

Next steps

City Hall’s Environment team is continuing to develop further strands of the Green Roots programme. They want to ensure that Londoners can play an active part in transforming their local spaces, and support nature to thrive here.  

The team particularly wish to address social inequality. Research shows that Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners are more than twice as likely as other groups to live in an area lacking green space. In addition, over one in five London households does not have access to a garden.

We’ll keep you posted on what’s happening next and how you can get involved.  

Timeline

STAGE: Evidence gathering

Rewilding London

Happened
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Londoners have responded 1491 times

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STAGE: Programme launched

London Rewilding Taskforce report published

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Mayor of London reaches 500,000th tree planted under mayoralty

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Mayor announces 21 successful Rewild London Fund projects

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STAGE: Policy design

Mayor pledges to clean up London's waterways

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STAGE: Evidence gathering

Deputy Mayor of Environment and Energy talks to young Londoners about access to green space

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STAGE: Policy design

Mayor brings together partners to clean up London's waterways

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Mayor commits to reviving nature and wildlife London's waterways

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STAGE: Evidence gathering

Engagement with young Londoners on connections to nature with the London Wildlife Trust

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London's green spaces and waterways

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Londoners have responded 1196 times

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